Can-deheading machine.



3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

medi-,ga im: im

l ,Nu

lll. llll.

T. D. MILLER. GAN D'EHEADING MACBIN ABPLIOATION EIIJED OCT. 8, 1912.

g4/lm INVENfOR 77E/ifs i@ /14 Harney l U. MILLER. CAN DEHEADNG MAGHNE,

APP

LIGATION PLED 00T. 8, 1912,

11D. MILLER.

CAN DEHEADING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 00T. 8, 1912.

1,058,879.- Panenned Apr. s, 1913.

l y 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3. Ma i? 47 6.

7 E /cL I :9

WTNESSES WW Z v Ailormy UMTED srarus PATENTA oFFlCE-- f THOMAS D. MIL-LER, or ,cAmoNsvILlLnvMAaYLANn i CAN-DEHEADNG MACHINE-f To all 'whom t may concern Be itknown that I, THOMASt D. MILLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Catonsville, in the county of Baltimore and Statev of Maryland, have invented certain 'new aud useful lmprovemeiits in Can-DeheadingMachines, of which the following is a specicationl The 'purpose of this invention is to provide a simple form of mechanismfor removing the heads and seams from tin cans which have been used to contain foodstuffs,

, in order that the 'bodies of the cans may be saved for various purposes for Which they,

are found useful, such as the manufacture, of'roofing caps and shingles.

Inl the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly in section, of -the ycan d eheading machine; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine; F 1g. 3 1s a side elevation, part-ly broken away, of the can.

A' clamp or chuck and the chuck support; Fig.

t is a section on theline 4-1 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2; and, Fig. 6 is a side view of the slitter for removing the seams from the cans. I

Referring to the drawing, A indicates a suitable supporting frame, upon the top of which are mounted, in bearings 2, a pair of alined sau7 arbors 3, carrying at their adja cent. ends circular saws fl. These saws are constantly driven from a. main shaft 5, having drive pulleys G thereon, which are belted to pulleys 7 on the saw arbors, one of these` pulleys being shown at the left. in Fig.. 1. The sides 8 of the frame are provided with 'bearings 9 in which are mounted eccentric bushings 10, and Within 'these bushings is journaled a tubular counter-shaft 11W' hich is constantly driven by a sprocket chain 12 and sprocket Wheels 13 and 14, from the main shaft 5, and on the shaft 11 isarranged a friction pulley 15.V Upon ,the main frame A is secured a rectangular front piece 16, having on its rear face bearings 1T in ,which are mounted trunnions 18 which project laterally inopposite directions from ears 19 and 20 on the gear casing 21. A shaft 22 is ,-eccentrically mounted-in the trunnions 18 ing is thus A.pivotally connected by the trun- Speccaton of Letters Patent.

nions 18 to the front plate of the machine, and a projection 28 on the! bottom of the casing, which is adapted to engage the front .be disengaged, and-that an engagement, of

thefriction wheels may be arranged to take place at vany desired point in the movement of the gear casing: This gear casing 21. forms part of a support B-for .a can clamp, or chuck C, Which is movable with the supand from the saws.

When moved away from the saws, as

shown in Fig.j2, the friction Wheels 15 and 23 are disengaged; but when the chuck is through the medium of a sprocket chain 29 which passes around a. sprocketv Wheel 30 on Patented Apr. 8, 1913. i Appncanon med october s, 1912. serial No. 724,600.

suo

port in a plane between the Saws 4, .toward the shaft 26, and around -an idle sprocket 31,

in the* gear casing, and around a sprocket 'wheel 32 associated with the chuck., As

37, so that when the sprccket Wheel 1s.turned the annular guide plates37 and 38 and the sleeve 35 are positively driven thereby, while the fly Wheel 36 is free to turn,"to a limited extent,.upon the sleeve 35.. Three.

similar arcuate clamping members 39 are ai;-

ranged Within the sleeve 35 and are'proiridedv with guiding flanges 39a which bear againsti the ends of said sleeve. These clamping members are provided with radially ar ranged stemsAO which are bifurcaled and sli/own in the dra-v; 'ng, a pair of uprights 33 secured to the sleeve 35.

the tivo arms L10?A of the stem are at oppcsit 1o `slot 42 in the webof the fly wheel', and a fio 4member, the web of the liy wheel is out away, as shown at 42, and within this opening is arranged a` cam 43. Near the rim of the fly wheel the webhas also a cam slot 44.' The forks of the stem 40 are provided with longitudinal slots 45 which register with the -pin 46'extends through the slots 45 and the .slot 42, this'pin being held within the slots i bythe face plates 37 and 38. Another pin -'47fextends through openings 48 in theforks 40a and through the cam slot 44 in the web Aof the wheel. Y

r j In operation the main shaft 5 and the r saws are constantly rotated in the direction i normally 1n .the position shown 1n ,said

-of the arrows Fig. 2. The chuck support is figure, withv the friction wheels and 23 disengaged. The can is placed between the jaws 39 ofthe chuck, with its ends pro- 525'V 'operator then manually presses the chuck truding into the planes of the saws 4.- The .Lfsfupport rearwardly and the latter is thereby 'engages the saws. Y friction wheels causes the sprocket 32 and and the friction wheels 15 and 23 are also, by this movement, brought into engagement with one another just before the can body This engagement of the the sleeve 35 and face pla es 37 4and 38, which carry the clamping members 39, to

'revolve in the direction indicated by the arrow, these parts bemg positively driven 'u #by the sprocket chain.. The iy wheel, owing to its inertia andthe fact that itis loosely'- mounted on the. sleeve 35, lags behind the positively driven parts and the pins 46 and 47 are carried by the stems of the clamping members around in t-he slots 42 and 44, respectively, the pin 46 of each clamping member .passing under a cam 43, and the clamping members are thereby automatically forced against the can. The ,pins being then wedged between Vthe stems of the clamping members and the cams 43, the Hy wheel is then carried around with the sprocket wheel and other connected parts while the saws cut oif the can heads. When the heads, have been severed from the can bodies', the operator allows the chuck and its suppo positio vand the frictionv wheelsjare t ereby `disengaged and the shaft 26 is broug it into engagement with a.brake.50 secured to the frontplate .of the machine, .which quickly stops the rotation'of the sprocket wheel and clamping members. The inertia of the fly wheel 36, however, carries the latter around 'on the sleeve 35 and the cams 43'pass out of' engagement with the .pins 46, thereby swung aboutfthe-t-runnions 18 as a center, to. carry the can into engagement with the saws to swing back by gravity to normal.

- ter wheel 61.

allowing the clamping members to be moved farther from the friction pulley 23.' This adjustment is desirable in order to suit the machine for deheading cans of dierent diameters. The clutch should commence to rotate just before the can .engages the saws and it is also desirable to regulate the depth which the saws'p'enetrate the can bodies. The adjustment of the eccentrics 10 by adjusting theposition of the pulley 15, regulates the time when the power is applied to the chuck and also the distance to which the chuck-can be moved in its travel toward the saws.

Vhile only the details of one clamping member and the camsv for operating' the same are shown in Figs. 3 and 4, it will be understood that the other two clamping members shown are operated 4in the same wary and by similar means. After the heads have been removed fromthe can, the operator inserts another can through one side of the chuck which forces the deheaded can out at the other side. The deheaded cans are then passed through a shearing mechanism, shown in front view at the leftof vFig.`1 and in side view in Fig. 6, which mechanism removes the seam from the can body so' that the latter may be rolled out flat and used for various commercial purposes.

This threading or slitting device comprises a shaft 55 mounted in the upper part -of the frame and driven from the main shaft 5 through 'a chain which connects sprocketwheels 56 and 57 on the shafts 5 and 55.

spaced apart from one another. A horn 59 is adjustably secured to a bracket 60 which is attached to the main frame, the horn being. located below the cutter wheels 58. A cutter wheel 61, arranged within a. slot in the horn 59 extends between the wheels 58, which t closely against the sides of the 'cut- The distance between the wheels 58 is slightlygrea'ter than the width of a sea-m in an ordinary; can.

It will be seen that if a can is placed upon the horn and moved endwise so' as to carry its seam over Athe cutter wheel 61, the seam will be removed from the can body, and the body may then be passed through suitable fav-rollers to Hatten it,4 3

What l claim is: l. ln a can deheading machine, a pair of circular cutters arranged in parallel planes,

driving means for the cutters, a chuck-support, a ychuck mounted therein and movable therewith toward and from the cutters in a plane between the cutters, and means controlled by the movement of the support for connecting the chuck to the driving means when the chuck-support is moved toward the cutters.

2. In a can deheading machine, a suitable frame, a pair of circular cutters mounted thereon in parallel planes, driving means for the cutters, a chuck-support pivoted to the frame and adapted to swing toward` and from the cutters, a chuck rotatably mounted in said support, gearing on said support for driving the chuck, and means controlled by f the movement of the chuck support for con'- necting said gearing with the. driving means when the support is moved toward the cutters.

3. In a can deheading machine, a suitable n p frame, a pair of circular cutters mounted thereon in parallel planes, a chuck-support pivoted to the frame "and movable toward and from the cut-ters, a chuck rotatably mounted on the support, a friction wheel on the support and gearing connecting said.

wheel with the chuck, a friction wheel on the frame adapted to be engaged by the friction wheel on the support when the latter is moved toward the cutters, and to be disengaged therefrom when the support is moved away from the cutters, and means for driving the cutters and the friction wheel on the frame. y

' ll. In a. can deheading' machine, a suitable frame, a pair of circular cutters mounted thereon in parallel planes, a chuck-support pivoted to the frame and movable toward and from the cutters, a chuck rotatably mounted on the support, a friction wheel on the support and gearing connecting saidA wheel with the chuck, a friction wheel on the frame adapted te be engaged by the friction wheel on the supportwhen the latter is moved toward the cutters, and to be disengagedv therefrom when the support is moved away from the cutters, means for driving the cutters and the friction wheel on the frame, and a brake for stopping the rotation of the chuck when the support is moved away from the cutters.

5. ln a can deheading machine, a'suitable frame, a pair of circular cutters mounted thereon in parallel planes, a chuck support movable toward and from the cutters, a chuck rotatably mounted in said support,

.means for rotating said chuck and cutters,

and means for automatically closing said chuck when the latter is moved toward the cutters and for opening it when moved away from the cutters.-

6. ln a candeheading machine, a suitable frame, a ypair of circular cutters mounted thereon in parallel planes, a chuck support movable toward and from the cutters, a chuck rotatably'mounted in said support, a ily wheel on said support having a limited movement with respect to the clamping members of the chuck, cams movable by the ily wheel 'for closing and opening the clampving members, means for driving the cutters and means for connecting the chuck with the driving means when the support is moved toward the cutters-and for disconnecting the chuck from the driving means when the support is moved away from the cutters.

7. In a can deheading machine, a suitable frame, a pairI of circular cutters mounted thereon in parallel planes, a'chuck support movable toward and from the cutters, a chuck rotatably mounted i'n' said support, a fly wheel on said support having a limited movement with respect to' the clamping members of the chuck, cams movabcby the fly wheel for closing and opening the'vclamping members, means for driving theA cutters,l means for connecting the chuck with4 the driving means whenthesupport is moved toward the cutters and for A,f l-isconnecting the chuck from the driving means `when the support is moved away from the cutters, and a brake arranged to stop the rotation of the chuck when the support is moved away from the cutters.

8. In a can deheading machine, a suitable frame, a pair of circular cutters mounted thereon' in parallel planes, means for driving the cutters, a counter shaft mounted in eccentric bushings in the frame, a friet-ion pulley on said counter shaft, a chuck support pivotally connected to the frame, a shaft in said support, a friction pulley on the latter shaft and a chuck on the support geared to the latter pulley, v

9. In a can deheading machine, a suitable frame, a pair of circular cutters mounted thereon in parallel planes, means for driving the cutters, a counter shaft mounted in eccentric bushings in the frame, a friction pulley on said counter shaft, a chuck support pivotally connected to the frame, av shaft in said support eccentrically mounted With re 

